Zongli Yamen - Function in Qing Bureaucracy

Function in Qing Bureaucracy

Prior to the creation of the Yamen, Qing foreign relations were conducted by several different agencies, such as the Ministry of Rites and the Lifan Yuan. The Zongli Yamen was the first significant institutional innovation in the central Beijing bureaucracy that the Qing had made since Emperor Yongzheng created the nucleus of the Grand Council in 1729. The Zongli Yamen was supervised by a controlling board of five senior officials (initially all Manchus), among whom the emperor's uncle, Prince Gong, was the de facto leader. In their discussions on establishing the new agency, Qing officials reiterated that it was only to be a temporary institution, maintained until the current foreign and domestic crisis had passed. The Zongli Yamen had a relatively low formal status in the Qing administrative hierarchy and its members served concurrently in other government agencies, which further weakened its position. Furthermore, the Zongli yamen was not the sole policy making body in foreign affairs, a prerogative which still rested in the hands of the emperor. While the Yamen remained an important body for a few decades after its foundation, its influence was soon overshadowed by influential officials such as Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang.

Following the Boxer rebellion, the Qing government was forced to change its foreign service. According to article XII in the Boxer Protocol 1901, the Zongli Yamen was replaced with a Foreign Office, known at the time as the Wai-wu Pu or Wai-wu-pu (simplified Chinese: 外务部; traditional Chinese: 外務部; pinyin: Wàiwùbù), which ranked above the other six boards in the government; "as the course of subsequent events made clear, the Wai-wu-pu was as ineffective in the establishment of good relations between China and the outside world as the Tsungli Yamen had been."